


On the dehydration and reconstitution of liquid spellcasting components: A first look into quantifying the effects of state change

by ProlixInSpace



Series: Component-Mediated Spellcasting: On the Shoulders of Giants [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Dark Magic, Dubious Science, Fake Science, For Science!, Gen, Mad Science, Magic, Magic and Science, Pre-Canon, Science, Science Experiments, Scientific Literature, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21969601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProlixInSpace/pseuds/ProlixInSpace
Summary: Before the Age of Avizandum but after the Gift of Aaravos, the predecessor to the Society for Component-Mediated Spellcasting was formed. Having no stigma yet against the term "Dark magic," they called themselves the Guild of Dark Mages. This power presented incredible possibility but also great challenges, and it became clear that the only way for humanity to move forward with it was to explore its limits in earnest and record their findings in a common format that is familiar to us even today.This article, brought to you by the SCMS Historical Team, is one of the earliest examples of this documentation of the experiments that have brought "Dark magic" into the light. (The team hopes to uncover, restore, and reprint many of these articles in the coming volumes of the CSM Journal.)
Series: Component-Mediated Spellcasting: On the Shoulders of Giants [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581514
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	On the dehydration and reconstitution of liquid spellcasting components: A first look into quantifying the effects of state change

**Author's Note:**

> This is almost certainly the nerdiest thing I have ever done in my life, and that is saying something.  
> (Known characters and situations from the series will appear in later installments, this first one is just laying some groundwork.)

* * *

_This article has been recovered and reprinted from historical sources by a Society of Component-Mediated Spellcasting restoration team led by Natyr of Evenere, as part of an ongoing project to document the process by which the SCMS came into existence. Historical materials published in this format will be presented a special section of selected volumes of the Journal of Component-Mediated Spellcasting in the section titled_ **_Component-Mediated Spellcasting: On the Shoulders of Giants._ ** _These writings will include early journal articles, research notes, and personal record-book entries from major figures in the history of CMS. Readers are reminded that writings in this series and the work discussed therein are a product of their time, and as such, may depict situations, study aims, and methods that are seen as primitive or unethical by our modern standards._

_This article is one of the oldest publications of the type that has become standard now, dating back to the Age of Luna Tenebris, colloquially known as the Lunis Era. The appendices were destroyed, but the original text was recoverable._

* * *

##  **On the dehydration and reconstitution of liquid spellcasting components: A first look into quantifying the effects of state change**

Fehar o.K., Bilo o.D., Gaiphe o.K.

_The Journal of the Guild of Dark Mages,_ Volume 2, Issue 8, 3rd Day of the Second Moon, Lunis Era, Year 103

  
  


**Abstract**

At the core, we set out here to answer the question of whether or not dehydration truly does or does not have an impact on the potency of ingredients used in Dark magic, whether reconstitution is or is not effective at restoring potentially lost potency, and whether similar procedures may have the same or different impacts on the end result of spellcasting. 

Some of this has been the subject of debate between Dark mages in different regions and generations, and other aspects _appear_ to have a consensus, but without any documented evidence to defend the conclusion. In the spirit of the Guild of Dark Mages and its journal, the authors here designed the study to shed light upon bare truth. 

In order to do so, the experimenters dehydrated, reduced, diluted, and reconstituted a narrow variety of samples of largely-homogenous, low-viscosity fluids with previously known potency levels, and performed a series of trials to determine the impact of these state changes on magical power. 

We determined that dehydrated ingredients are generally at least as viable as their original liquid-state ingredients, and that reconstitution has similar effect to dilution -- that is, that it reduces effectiveness and power. Our results also have wider implications regarding the nature of “spirit” and potentially rule out the water of the body as a conduit. 

**Introduction**

While Dark mages have been altering the physical status of spellcasting ingredients ever since the Gift of Aaravos, little has been written about the specific impact of state change. Some components of magic are known colloquially to respond well or poorly to specific alterations, but it has been previously unknown whether these reactions were the result of properties of the individual components and ingredients themselves, or whether grander conclusions could be drawn about e.g. dehydration, dilution, and reconstitution, as we address here.

Among the challenges of quantifying the effect of state change on the potency of spells used with altered ingredients is selecting ingredients for testing. Naturally, different materials will react differently to state change, and a number of confounding factors may play a role in the outcome of the resulting spell. While the researchers are eager to conduct follow-up research with more complex ingredients regarding the effect of various state changes, it seemed important to pare this down to the simplest possible state with as few variables as possible in order to draw conclusions that can form a foundation for this area of Dark magic study going forward.

Additionally, the authors would like to check the results of this study against common colloquial wisdom regarding state changes in spell ingredients, to ensure that oft-heard aphorisms are indeed based in reality and not merely hearsay. It is all too easy for knowledge to be passed from one person to the next without being replicated or confirmed. As avoidance of errors caused by this “chain of whispers” effect was part of the founding mission of the Journal of the Guild of Dark Mages, it is of course a major aspect of our reason for conducting this investigation.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly in the long-run, we come to the matter of “spirit.” 

The Gift of Aaravos was a tremendous boon to our race, and we are all deeply grateful for everything it has brought us, but as every Dark mage is painfully aware, even an elf with sympathy for humanity is prone to overestimating the intuition that may be present regarding the rules and limits of magic. As a result, it has been necessary to explore these manually, and the nature of “spirit” has been one of the greatest mysteries. 

It is clear to us in this modern age that this “spirit” is somehow imbued within the physiology of the creatures that we use to power our magic, and that it seems to inhabit most or all of the body, given the diversity of useful parts. However, we have yet to isolate or understand it. The authors of this study aspire to chip away at the edges of this difficult subject, and perhaps reveal even just a little more of the truth of its nature. If mages throughout the western continent join us in this, many hands will make light work, and our descendents may be able to do things with “spirit” of which we now cannot even dream.

**Materials and Methods**

To help with the reduction of confounding factors, researchers selected five fluid spellcasting ingredients with low viscosity, high water content, and a high degree of homogeneity. 

The goal was to select ingredients that were, aside from these qualities, very different from one another, in order to ascertain a direction for future study of state change. The selected ingredients and collection notes were as follows:

  1. Urine of an ambler (Specimen collected directly from the bladder of an adult male ambler)
  2. Spinal fluid of a gryphon (Specimen collected from an individual that was recently deceased upon discovery)
  3. Blood of a sea serpent (Specimen collected from an adult individual recovered by a fishing vessel)
  4. Vitreous fluid from the eye of a banther (Specimen collected on the day of death of a specimen in captivity)
  5. Venom from a soulfang serpent (Specimen collected from a live juvenile in captivity.)



Each sample was divided equally into four scoured and sealed clay containers. Containers were examined for reactivity to ingredients and were found to be non-reactive. 

The first container of each sample was placed into storage away from light and heat for the duration of the experiment. 

For the purpose of this study, a chamber was designed in the lower levels of the Castle of Katolis specifically for the purpose of ingredient dehydration. It was built to resemble the chambers used to dehydrate and preserve meat and other food for storage, but to also withstand and allow for greater temperatures. Aspects of crematorium design were also implemented, with the goal of reducing the dehydrated components to as solid of a state as possible. 

The third container of each sample was left to boil in its container over a standard cooking fire until it reached a syrup-like or semi-liquid state of high viscosity.

The fourth container of each sample was mixed with an equal volume of distilled water.

After the processing time, this left the researchers with four versions of each substance: The original state, the solid powdered state, the semi-liquid state, and the diluted state. 

The material remaining in each sample were then divided into two sub-samples. The original state material was once again set aside (both containers.) Half of the solid sample was left in its powdered state, and the other half was reconstituted with distilled water to its original viscosity. Half of the semi-liquid sample was left in its state, and the other half was reconstituted with distilled water to its original viscosity. Half of the diluted sample was left in its present state, and the other half was boiled until it regained its original viscosity. 

Once all state changes were complete, each resulting sample was used to cast commonly-used, lower-intensity spells with measurable results. Specifically:

  1. The ambler urine samples were used in a spell that accelerates the growth of radish plants. Potency was judged by the speed and ultimate size of the radish plants targeted.
  2. The gryphon spinal fluid samples were used in a spell that temporarily reduces the weight of parchment for easier carriage by crows. Potency was judged by the difference in weight (as measured on the calibrated royal scale) of the parchment after casting.
  3. The sea serpent blood samples were used in a spell that extends the time a human can hold their breath underwater (Spell targets were asked to complete five breath-holding time trials prior to spellcasting in order to determine baseline values.) Potency was judged by the difference from baseline measures.
  4. The banther eye fluid samples were used in a spell that temporarily improves color vision. (Spell targets were asked to perform a color vision acuity test both before and after spellcasting.) Potency was judged by the difference in performance.
  5. The soulfang serpent venom samples were used in a spell that causes temporary garbled speech (referred to in previous writings “word salad.”) Potency was judged by the duration of effect. 



In all trials involving human targets, 105 subjects were drawn from the standing army ranks. To control for confounding factors, all targets were generally healthy males, between the ages of 20 and 40. Seven states of ingredients were being tested (original, dehydrated, dehydrated and reconstituted, reduced, reduced and reconstituted, diluted, and diluted and reconstituted.) Three trials required human subjects, and for each state, five subjects were tested. Among each group of five, two were randomly chosen to receive a “fake” spell (slightly altered so as to have no effect) and all subjects were asked to turn and face the opposite direction during casting so that subjects would be unaware if they had received a genuine spell or not. 

Radish seeds, clay pots, and soil were acquired from Rhim Farm. 

Parchment pieces were provided by the Castle Crow Lord. 

**Results**

As the attached data table indicates, the potency for all of the types of ingredients demonstrated a similar pattern, with the states in order of potency achieving a uniform order as follows (from most to least potent):

  1. Dehydrated state
  2. Original state
  3. Reduced state
  4. Diluted and reduced state
  5. Diluted, dehydrated and reconstituted, and reduced and reconstituted all typically got similarly low-potency results. 



The dehydrated powdered samples performed significantly better than all other states with the exception of the original state, which had similar results. Generally, the components that were easier to dehydrate showed the most difference in potency here. In the unique case of ambler fluid, the dehydrated state was notably _more_ potent than the original form. 

The reduced state was marginally less potent, than the dehydrated _and_ original state of each. The diluted state was much less potent. All of the reconstituted states (dehydrated and reconstituted, reduced and reconstituted, diluted and reduced) demonstrated similar results to the diluted state. This was true across trials and ingredients. 

**Discussion**

Several outcomes of the results explained above seem worthy of note and potentially further study. 

Firstly, on a note of convenience, the researchers are certain that the discovery of powdered ambler urine’s improved potency over the original state will be of great use to our fellow mages. Working with fluids, particularly more odiferous ones, can often be tiresome and uncomfortable, and the discovery that this particular fluid can be entirely replaced with a powdered form was a pleasant surprise.

Generally speaking, given the convenience of producing, transporting, and trading powders as opposed to liquids, we were pleased to discover that creating a powder from a liquid ingredients seems to generally yield equal or near-equal power to the original liquid state. Powdered ingredients are also easier to measure, store, and handle, which may aid in lowering the bar to standardization. 

The researchers are particularly interested in the potential this creates for dried pre-mixed component blends that might be used quickly and easily in urgent situations or by novice mages, reducing the “hollowing” burden on experienced mages and providing additional flexibility in e.g. combat situations. Further experimentation will be needed to determine if this is a realistic possibility and what challenges it may present.

It was unfortunate that reconstitution failed across the board to produce a useful potency level, but we hope that this conclusion will assist in cutting down on time wasted in attempts at reconstitution of ingredients, which folk knowledge in some areas has suggested to be useful.

This also has implications for the creation of spell preparations that consist of blends or brews of liquids and powders together. The conclusion that reconstitution reduces potency raises questions about how these powdered ingredients will perform in a liquid mix -- will the liquid cause the dilution effect, or can the other ingredients make up for this deficit or prevent the effect from taking place? If it is the former case, there may still be a place for original-state liquids on our shelves. This seems to also merit further study. It seems worthwhile as well to also attempt reconstitution with additional substances aside from water, for example, distilled alcohol. 

In each case, adding water reduced the potency, but removing water did not. From these results, we additionally theorize that the “spirit” (defined as what must be a physical embodiment of a primal link in the ingredients used to power Dark magic) must _not_ be located (or only minimally present) in the water of the body, even in the case of creatures like the sea serpent who are connected to the ocean primal. As mentioned prior, the search for the “spirit” has long been a pursuit of mages, and it is our hope that this study might reinvigorate that search and perhaps even bring our field one step closer to realizing that ultimate goal.

**Acknowledgments**

The authors would like to thank Lev and his family at Rhim Farm, all of our military volunteers, and the Crow Lord. 

**Funding**

This study was supported and funded by the Katolis Chapter of the Guild of Dark Mages, which in turn receives significant budgetary consideration from the Royal Treasury. 

  
  



End file.
